Needle operating mechanism



July 12, 1932. A. M.MULLER v NEEDLE OPERATING MEGHANISM Filed Jan. 3.1951 .d 4 a 3 ad,

3Q, 3.a' nven'tor,

W ttorneg Psa-med July! 12.1932

UNITED STATES PATENT- orrlcE .ADOLF MAX MLLER, CHEMNITZ IN SACHSEN,GERMANY NEEDLE OPERATING meenemen Application led' January 3,1931,Serial No.

My invention relates to warp knitting machines and more especially toimprovements in needle actuating mechanism for machines of this type. Y

In the art of designing warp knitting machines .having a straightknitting line it has common practice heretofore to cooperativelyassociate the thread guiding elements and the needles in such mannerthat the thread guides must pass between the needles and move laterallythereof, in order to present the threads to the needles in appropriateposition for being engaged and the loops being forme'd.

and will be advanced in turn over a distance exceeding ltheirretrogressive movement by one or more gauge umts, so as to get away fromthe needles, while the latter are rising,

and to bring the descending needles into the reach of hooks. Y

- In orderto properly perform these movements however rather complicatedactuating mechanisms are required which seriously increase the cost'ofproduction, operation and upkeep of machines of these classes. Moreoverthe knitting machines are bodily subjected-through the actuatingmechanisms concerned to rather hard shocks and concussions in quicksuccession` and must be worked necessarily at a reduced speed.

The principal object of my invention is to overcome the said drawbacksby providing an improved needle actuating mechanism for warp knittingmachines which is composed of relatively few parts of simple design,easily to be assembled and disassembled.

Other objects ofl the invention and ad- 506,451, and in Germany January10, 1930.

vantages attained by the same will become apparent hereinafter,

The nature and scope of the invention are briefly outlined in theappended claims andA will be more fully understood by the followingspecification taken tggether with the accompanying drawing, in whichFig. 1 is a fragmentary view showing the needle cylinder and theneedleactuating mechanism of a circular warp knitting' ma- V chine by way'ofan example in cross section,

the needles'being in their uppermost position, Fig. 2 diagrammaticallyshows the crossed threadsNand the needles, the latter being in theiruppermost position corresponding to that of Fig. 1.

Fig. Seis a fragmentary view showing the needle cylinder and the needleactuating mechanism in cross section, the needles being in anintermediate position and also in their lowermost position, indicated bydash and plain 'lines respectively.

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Fig. 4 diagrammatically shows the crossed I threads and the needles, thelatter being in their lowermost position which corresponds to that ofFig, 3. l

Fig 5 is anl another diagram showing the crossed threads and theneedles, the latter bein in an intermediate position.

ig. 6 is a side elevation of a knittingv needle. Y

According to this invention means are provided for imparting totheknitting needles .in addition to their up and downwardmovement' areciprocating tilting motion in the dlrection towards and away from thevwarp threads and in a manner described hereinafter with-reference tFigures -5 ofthe drawing: l

In a collar, projecting from the needle cylinder 1 of the knittingmachine slots or notches 2 are vformed which represent guide members`for the needles 3. The-latter are adapted to move upand down relativelyto the needle cylinder l1 and simultaneously to be tilted towards andaway from the center of the needle cylinder 1, as indicatedin plain anddotted lines in Figs. 1 and 3. n

For this purpose the needles 3, 'which are formed as usual with a hook'bat their upper end, are provided with a heel portion of peculiar shapeat their lower end, having workin faces 3a, 3c, 3d,`3e as seen in Figs.1, 3 an 6.

' Theneedles 3 are supported and ,operated by a cylindrical member 4which is given a sponding to that of the working faces 3e of Vtheneedles intermediate their shank and heel portion.

The operation of the needle actuating mechanism described is as follows:

The needles 3, individually designated by the letters a, b, o, d, e, f,g, in Figs. 2-5, on having beenA moved into their uppermost slight 2, inwhich the needle hooks 3b are displaced towards the centei` ofthe needlecylinder 1 are supported by the actuating cylinder 4, the working face3c of the heel of the needles being engaged by the upper face of thefront wall 6 ofthe actuating cylinder 4.

As soon as the latter begins to descend its front wall 6 becomesdisengaged from the heel of the needle while-the inclined rear faces 9aof the slots 9 of the crown plate will engage the inclined working faces3e`of the needles, thus causing the latter to be tilted I' into apractically vertical position as shown in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and3-but\not to IYdescend yet.

During this operation the needles 3 are gulded at their upper end withinthe slots 2 of the needle cylinder and are held in frictional contactwith the latter by the loops of the knitted fabricwhich rest undertension upon thetop ,edge of the needle cylinder1,- as seen in Fig. 1.

The hook 3b of the needles has thus been brought into a positiondirectly above the crossing point Ic of the upper and lower row threads1 7.

rI hereupon-while the needle 'actuating cylinder 4 continues todescend-its crown plate 7 will engage thev upper working face 3d of theheel of the needles, causing the latter likewise to descend until theyreach their lowermost position, shown i11- plai'n lines in Fig. 3.Meanwhile the hook 3b of the needles has reached the threads at theircrossing points k, which are specially marked in Fig. 2, so' as topullthe threads through the loops m of the knitted fabric, resting on thetop y tilted position,shown in, Figs. 1 and4 edge of needle cylinder r1,and form a new loop vas indicated in Figs. 3 and 4. j

Thereafter the needle actuating cylinder 4 begins to rise, and its crownplate 7 will thus become disengaged from the working face 3d of the heelof the needles, while the' front Wall .'6-in sliding along the inclinedworking face 3a of the heel-gradually tilts the needles into an inclinedposition and eventually comes into contact with the working face 3c ofthe beek-"causing the needles likewise to rise, until they reach theiruppermost position shown in plain in Fig. 1.

The operations described above follow each other in due sequence so asto forma cycle of movements.

It Should be noted that the needles 3 while rising are injan inclinedposition in which the needle hooks are beyond the crossed threads, i. e.in a position-sufficiently wide apart from the latter so that theycannot come into touch with the threads.

While the needles 3 are rising and descending each set of thethreadguiding rings O-u, designated by the numbers 1-7 in Figs. 2, 4, 5is displaced in the direction of the arrows to the right andto the leftrespectively over a distance equal to one needle gauge unit. A

When compared with the specific position of the thread guide's'O andv,shown in Figs. 1 and 3 and representing the zero position, the threadguides have been shifted in F 1g. '4 over a distance equal to one halfneedle gauge unit to the right and left respectively, after theneedlesa, 6, 0, d, e, f, g have knocked over their old loops and have formednew ones.

Thereafter the rising needles a, b, c, d, e, f, g will pass through theVgaps between vthe threads underneath the crossing points; for

instance needle c has to pass through the gap, cross hatched in Fig.- 4,between the threadsof the upper thread guides 2,3 and the lower threaguidesz4', 5. The needles will not come into cont-act with 'the crossedthreads until having reached their upright position, indicated in dottedlines in Fig. 1..

Briefiy summarizing thesalient features of my invention and the advant Yes obtained lby the latter: Means are provi ed for tilting L theneedles-prior to their rising motion-so that the upper section of theneedles will extendbeyond the top edge of the nee-l dle bed orknockovercomb and will-while rising-evade the threads. A

vO11 descending the needles are `tilted t0- wards the threads so thatthe needle hooks will come into a position directlyabove the threads andwill securely" get hold of the latter.

- It should be-noted that the mechanism for lifting and loweringthe-needlesv is'v designed so as to simultaneously elfect their tiltingymovementsand that nojadditi'onal device means of special design.

or attachment is required for this latter manipulation. p

This advantage is obtained by providing the lower section of the needleswith a heel portion of special design and cooperatively associating withthe latter needle actuating Various changes and modifications may bemade in the design of needle operating mechanisms of the type and forthe purpose set forth, and in the ushape and cooperation of theircomponent parts without substantially departing from the spirit and thesalient ideas of my invention.

For instance the crown' plate 7 which is provided with guide slots 9 forthe needles 3 may be made of a plurality of separate pieces in order tofacilitate the exchange of needles wherever required.'

Needle operating mechanism having the features shown and describedaboveywith referenceto circular warp knitting machines may be applied toand used to equal advantage in connection with straight warp knit- Itingmachines, also with other types or knitting machines for warp fabrics inwhich the needles are singly actuated or in groups or are all united andjointly manipulated by one and the same common needle carrier.

Latch needles may be used instead of barbed needles to equal advantagein connection with needle operating mechanism for warp knittingmachines, designed according to this invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a needle operating mechanism for the purpose set forth thecombination with needles which are provided at their lower end`with aheel ortion, the latter presenting two `working aces `extendingsubstantially vertical to the main shank of the needle and two otherworking faces in inclined position relatively to the needle shank, o aneedle actuating member having a groove and a crown plate, lthefrontwall of said groove and the said crown plate having working faceswhich are cooperatively associated with the heel and shank of theneedles, a needle bar presenting needle guiding slots, and of means forreciprocating the said needle ctuating member relatively to the needlear. i f A 2. In a needle operating mechanism for warp knitting machines,means for lifting and lowering the needles relatively to the needle bedadapted to simultaneously tilt the needies towardV and away from e warpthreads, and the combination with the needles whichLare provided attheir lower end with a heel portion, the latter presenting two working'faces lextendin substantially vertical to the main shank o the needleand-two other working faces in inclined position relaitvely to theneedle shank, of a needle actuating member having a groove and a crownplate, the front wall of said groove and the said crown plate havingworking faces which are cooperatively associated with the heel and shankof the needles, a needle bar presenting needle guiding slots, and 4meansfor reciprocating the said needle actuating member relatively to theneedle bar.

3. In a warp knitting machine, the combination `with`a plurality ofneedles, each having a heel portion at its lower end, said heel portionhaving two working faces ex- 4tending substantially at right angles tothe length of the needle, and two inclined working faces, and meanscooperatingv with the working faces to raise and lower the needles andimpart an inclined position to the needles during the cycles ofoperation of the needles.

4. In a warp knitting machine, the com- -bination with a plurality ofneedles, each having a heel portion at its lower end, said heel portionhaving two working faces extending substantially at right angles to thelength of the needle, and two inchned working faces, and an actuatingcylinder having -a crown plate cooperating with the Workingv twootherworking faces in inclined position .relatively to the needle shank, of aneedle actuatin member having a groove and a crown p ate, the front wallof. said groove and the said crown plate havmg worklng .faces which arecooperatively associated with the heel and shank of the needles.

In testimony whereof I have signed my `name to this specification.

ADOLF MAX MLLER.

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